Date: Sun, 10 Jul 94 14:46:48 CDT
From: Lorraine Moore
The following is copied with permission from the newsletter of
the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western
Missouri, called, confusingly for this context, *The Advocate.*
It appeared in the issue for Summer, 1994:
"Patrons of the Olathe, Kansas, school district near Kansas City
-- including students, parents, and teachers -- are directly
confronting the efforts of the religious right to, "change
society," in court today with the help of the ACLU of Kansas and
Western Missouri.
"The lawsuit, *Stevana Case et al. v. U.S.D. no. 233, Johnson
County, Kansas et al.,* stems from the December 14, 1993, order
of Olathe superintendent, Dr. Ron Wimmer, that copies of the
book, *Annie on My Mind,* be removed from the shelves of Olathe
East and Olathe South High School libraries, even though they had
been available in the libraries since the early 1980s. Although
the books had been part of each library's general collection, and
therefore available for voluntary reading or checkout, they were
not part of the curriculum or assigned reading for any course
taught in the district.
"An award-winning juvenile romance novel by Nancy Garden, *Annie
on My Mind* tells the story of two young women, Lisa and Annie,
who 'meet at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, fall in love,
then find that a public declaration is too threatening to their
friends and relatives,' ALA [American Library Association] Best
Books for Young Adults, *Booklist,* March 15, 1983. The
librarian who originally selected *Annie* for purchase did so
because the book had received significant professional critical
acclaim. The book is available in other public school districts
in Kansas and western Missouri for the same reason.
"Four students, with the support of their parents, and a teacher
from the Olathe School District are the plaintiffs for ACLU. In
the face of virulent opposition by the religious right, the
students spoke eloquently and forcefully at the January 7, 1994
school board meeting just prior to the board's final action
supporting censorship.
"Stevie Case, Olathe East High School student body president and
lead plaintiff, commented in March at an ACLU news conference,
'This is an inappropriate attempt to ease controversy through the
suppression of information. Political expedience does not excuse
the abridgement of the most basic rights of citizens as affirmed
by our constitution. If our schools and our society are to be
successful, academic freedom and access to information must be
maintained without exception."
"Plaintiff Amanda Greb added, 'Because I believed the actions of
the superintendent were wrong, and thinking the decision to be a
temporary mistake, I spoke before the school board two months ago
urging them to return the book. They did not do so. I met twice
with the superintendent. Nothing happened. I helped distribute
a petition that receive[d] the signatures of over half of our
student body. The Olathe South Student Government passed a
resolution. The book was never returned. This lawsuit is not a
first resort, but the last resort of students who are willing to
pay the price of eternal vigilance in order to secure their
freedoms.'
"The third plaintiff present at the March news conference, Sam
Pierron, emphasized that, 'this is not a political issue that can
be labelled *liberal* or *conservative.* This is about our basic
freedoms as Americans.'
"The issues raised by the ACLU in the lawsuit are the removal of
the book *Annie on My Mind* from the current collections of two
Olathe public school libraries, the academic freedom claim of a
teacher in the district, and the claim of a student, who was
prevented by the school district from distributing pamphlets in
school concerning the censorship of the book.
"The school district maintains that it has authority to prescribe
what students may or may not read. However, the United States
Supreme Court has ruled that school officials are not above the
Constitution and particularly the First Amendment.
"In its landmark 1982 decision called *Board of Education v.
Pico,* the United States Supreme Court said that local school
boards must exercise their authority in a manner that is
consistent with the First Amendment.
"In the *Pico* case, the Supreme Court fount that students' First
Amendment rights are 'directly and sharply implicated by the
removal of books from the shelves of school libraries.' The
Court said that 'the special characteristics of the school
library make that environment especially appropriate for the
recognition of the First Amendment rights of students.'
"According to the Supreme Court, school officials cannot remove
books from school libraries in order to deny students access to
ideas ... local school boards may not remove books from school
library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained
in those books,' the Court said.
"ACLU contends that by removing *Annie on My Mind* from school
libraries, the Olathe School District is violating the First
Amendment rights of students and teachers in the district.
"The cooperating attorneys for ACLU are J. Eugene Balloun, John
T. Bullock, and David J. Waxse of the lawfirm Shook Hardy and
Bacon, and Marjorie Heins, director of the national ACLU Arts
Censorship Project. The cooperating attorneys are not paid for
their time, which will be substantial. ACLU is responsible for
all other costs in the case, expected to be in the range of
$10,000."
The article does not mention the fact that the radical rightists
who demanded that the book be removed actually held a book
burning. When Nancy Garden read from her works at our local
bookstore earlier this year she described how horrified and
sickened she was to read that her book had been burned. The ACLU
office says that they have learned that the school board and its
backers tend to fight the suit tooth and nail. I have the
impression that they now think that their costs will be
considerably more than the estimate. They will have to take some
forty depositions, which I gather means substantial costs for
stenography. They very much need support.
Tax deductible checks can be made out to the ACLU Foundation and
mailed to ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, 706 W. 42nd
Street, Suite 108, Kansas City, MO 64111. Please mention that it
is for the Olathe case.
Redistribution of this message is permitted.
Lorraine Moore